Preparation of chitosan-based microporous composite material and its applications

ABSTRACT

Microporous glutaraldehyde-crosslinked chitosan sorbents, methods of making and using them, and a generator for the radioisotope  99 Mo containing the sorbents.

This application claims benefit to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/453,772, filed Mar. 17, 2011, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

1. Field

Disclosed herein are methods for modification of chitosan that increases their versatility as sorbents, particularly as sorbents of radioisotopes, as well the ability of these materials to function in environments where radioactivity is present. Also disclosed are the materials themselves, as well as methods of using them to separate and purify radioisotopes, and to separate and purify contaminated materials, in particular those radioactive and nonradioactive streams contaminated by metal ions, particularly those of heavy metals.

2. Description of Related Art

Radioactive isotopes are widely used, particularly in the field of nuclear medicine, both for therapy and imaging. However, these materials can present production, storage, and disposal challenges due to their radioactivity, as well as their often significant half-lives.

More particularly, in the radiopharmaceutical area, ^(99m)Tc (having a half-life t_(1/2)=6 h), is one of the most widely used radioisotopes in diagnostic medicine, obtained from the decay product of parent ⁹⁹Mo (t_(1/2)=66 h). ^(99m)Tc is a pure gamma emitter (0.143 MeV) ideal for use in medical applications due to its short half-life (6 hours). It is used in 80-85% of the approximately 25 million diagnostic nuclear medicine procedures performed each year.

The parent ⁹⁹Mo can be produced by the irradiation of ⁹⁸Mo with thermal/epithermal neutrons in a nuclear reactor, but much of the world supply of ⁹⁹Mo comes from the fission product of highly enriched uranium (HEU) in a reactor. The HEU process generates large quantities of radioactive waste and does not permit reprocessing of the unused uranium targets due to weapons proliferation concerns.

Low enriched uranium (LEU, 20 percent ²³⁵U or less) could be used as a substitute, but would yield large volumes of waste due to the large quantities of un-useable ²³⁸U present. Currently, most of the world supply of ⁹⁹Mo comes from sources outside of the United States. Recent ⁹⁹Mo production outages at these sources have disrupted medical procedures and have demonstrated the unreliability of this supply chain. This stresses the need for economically feasible alternative sources to produce ^(99m)Tc from ⁹⁹Mo.

The main concerns with neutron capture-produced ⁹⁹Mo, as compared to the more common fission-produced material described above, involves both lower curie yield and lower specific activity. The specific activity is significantly lower and is of great concern due to impacts on ⁹⁹Mo/^(99m)Tc generator size, efficiency, and functionality. Therefore, use of lower specific activity molybdate is only feasible with a more efficient sorbent to reduce the generator size and to yield a usable dose at the radiopharmacy. Several research works have been focused on the uses of a molybdenum gel generator. See Marageh, M. G., et al., “Industrial-scale production of ^(99m)Tc generators for clinical use based on zirconium molybdate gel,” Nuclear Technology, 269, 279-284 (2010); Monoroy-Guzman, F. et al., “⁹⁹Mo/^(99m)Tc generators performances prepared from zirconium molybdate gels” J. Braz. Chem. Soc., 19, 3, 380-388 (2008). Others focused on preparation of ⁹⁹Mo/^(99m)Tc generator based on polymeric or inorganic oxide as an adsorbent material for ⁹⁹Mo. See Masakazu, T. et al., “A ^(99m)Tc generator using a new organic polymer absorbent for (n,γ) ⁹⁹Mo,” Appl. Radia. Isot., 48, 5, 607-711 (1997); Qazi, Q. M. et al., “Preparation and evaluation of hydrous titanium oxide as a high affinity adsorbent for molybdenum (⁹⁹Mo) and its potential for use in ^(99m)Tc generator,” Radiochim. Acta, 99, 231-235 (2011).

However, such medical uses require that the ^(99m)Tc be produced in highly purified form. For example, when ^(99m)Tc is produced from the decay of ⁹⁹Mo, it is important to achieve a high degree of separation of the two elements in order to meet regulatory requirements.

One approach to achieving this level of purity is to separate ^(99m)Tc from ⁹⁹Mo using a highly efficient, selective sorbent, e.g., by sorbing ⁹⁹Mo and eluting ^(99m)Tc. Attempts have been made to use alumina as such a sorbent. However, this alumina provides an efficiency for Mo⁹⁹ of about 25 mg/g of sorbent. Accordingly, there remains a need in the art for a sorbent that is both efficient in the adsorption of ⁹⁹Mo, and resistant to the adverse effects of ionizing radiation. In addition, there remains a need for a sorbent that is highly selective for ⁹⁹Mo, i.e., that is capable of sorbing ⁹⁹Mo while providing good release of ^(99m)Tc.

More generally, there remains a need for a sorbent that is readily available, or producible from readily available materials, and that is customizable by modification to have one or more functional groups (which may be the same or different) allowing the material to remove constituents from a process stream requiring such purification, and that is resistant to degradation by ionizing radiation.

The ion exchange process, which has been used for decades to separate metal ions from aqueous solution, is often compared to adsorption. The primary difference between these two processes is that ion exchange is a stoichiometric process involving electrostatic forces within a solid matrix, whereas in adsorptive separation, uptake of the solute onto the solid surface involves both electrostatic and Van der Waals forces. In an attempt to find a suitable ion exchange resin for the removal of cesium and strontium from waste solution, several investigators have tried a number of inorganic, organic, and bio-adsorbents, with a varying degree of success. See Gu, D., Nguyen, L., Philip, C. V., Huckmen, M. E., and Anthony, R. G. “Cs⁺ ion exchange kinetics in complex electrolyte solutions using hydrous crystalline silicotitanates”, Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., 36, 5377-5383, 1997; Pawaskar, C. S., Mohapatra, P. K., and Manchanda, V. K. “Extraction of actinides fission products from salt solutions using polyethylene glycols (PEGs)” Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry, 242 (3), 627-634, 1999; Dozol, J. F., Simon, N., Lamare, V., et al. “A solution for cesium removal from high salinity acidic or alkaline liquid waste: The Crown calyx[4]arenas” Sep. Sci. Technol., 34 (6&7), 877-909, 1999; Arena, G., Contino, A., Margi, A. et al. “Strategies based on calixcrowns for the detection and removal of cesium ions from alkali-containing solutions. Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., 39, 3605-3610, 2000.

However, major disadvantages with the ion exchange process are the cost of the material and regeneration for repeated use when treating radioactive streams. See Hassan, N., Adu-Wusu, K., and Marra, J. C. “Resorcinol-formaldehyde adsorption of cesium (Cs+) from Hanford waste solutions-Part I: Batch equilibrium study” WSRC-MS-2004. The cost of disposal is also a major issue. The success of adsorption processes depends largely on the cost and capacity of the adsorbents and the ease of regeneration.

Chitosan is a partially acetylated glucosamine polymer encountered in the cell walls of fungi. It results from the deacetylation of chitin, which is a major component of crustacean shells and available in abundance in nature. This biopolymer is very effective in adsorbing metal ions because of its ability for complexation due to high content of amino and hydroxyl functional groups. In their natural form, chitosan is soft and has a tendency to agglomerate or form gels in acidic medium. Moreover, chitosan, in its natural form, is non-porous and the specific binding sites of this biopolymer are not readily available for sorption. However, it is necessary to provide physical support and chemical modification to increase the accessibility of the metal binding sites for process applications. It is also essential that the metal binding functional group should be retained after any such modification.

It is well known that polysaccharides can be degraded due to scission of glycoside bonds by ionizing radiation. IAEA-TECDOC-1422, “Radiation processing of polysaccharides' International Atomic Energy Agency, November, 2004. The hydrogel based on polysaccharides and their derivatives has been extensively studied, but very limited work has been reported so far on the impact of radiation on the chitosan-based microporous composite materials and their metal ion uptake capacity.

Chitosan is a non-toxic, biodegradable material. It has been investigated for many new applications because of its availability, polycationic character, membrane effect, etc. The amino group present in the chitosan structure is the active metal binding site, but it also renders chitosan soluble in weak acid. In acidic media, chitosan tends to form a gel which is not suitable for adsorption of metal ions in a continuous process.

Several reports indicated that the cross-linking of chitosan with gluteraldehyde make chitosan acid or alkali resistant. See Elwakeel, K. Z., Atia, A. A., and Donia, A. M. “Removal of Mo(VI) as oxoanions from aqueous solutions using chemically modified magnetic chitosan resins, Hydrometallurgy, 97, 21-28, 2009; Chassary, P., Vincent, T., and Guibal, E. “Metal anion sorption on chitosan and derivative materials: a strategy for polymer modification and optimum use” Reactive and Functional Polymers, 60, 137-149, 2004; Velmurugan, N., Kumar, G. G., Han, S. S., Nahm, K. S., and Lee, Y. S. “Synthesis and characterization of potential fungicidal silver nano-sized particles and chitosan membrane containing silver particles” Iranian Polymer Journal, 18 (5), 383-392, 2009. Gluteraldehyde is a five carbon molecule terminated at both ends by aldehyde groups which are soluble in water and alcohol, as well as in organic solvents. It reacts rapidly with amine groups of chitosan during cross-linking through Schiff's reaction and generates thermally and chemically stable cross-links. See Migneault, I., Dartiguenave, C., Bertrand, M. J., and Waldron, K. C. “Gluteraldehyde: behavior in aqueous solution, reaction with proteins, and application to enzyme crosslinking” Bio Techniques, 37 (5), 790-802, 2004. The amine groups are also considered as the active metal binding sites of chitosan. Therefore, by cross-linking with gluteraldehyde, the chitosan is reported to be acid or alkali resistant but the metal adsorption capacity will be reduced.

Li and Bai (2005) proposed a method to cap the amine group of chitosan by formaldehyde treatment before cross-linking with gluteraldehyde, which was then removed from the chitosan structure by washing thoroughly with 0.5M HCl solution. Li, Nan, and Bai, R. “A novel amine-shielded surface cross-linking of chitosan hydrogel beads for enhanced metal adsorption performance” Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., 44, 6692-6700, 2005.

Crosslinking of chitosan with different functional groups is thought to depend mainly on the crosslinking reaction conditions, such as pH, temperature, ionic concentration, and the surface charge of the materials.

Sing et al. (2006) showed that swelling properties of chitosan hydrogel cross-linked with formaldehyde depends on the responsive behavior of pH, temperature, and ionic strength. Singh, A., Narvi, S. S., Dutta, P. K., and Pandey, N. D. “External stimuli response on a novel chitosan hydrogel crosslinked with formaldehyde” Bull. Mater. Sci., 29 (3), 233-238, 2006.

The surface charge of the chitosan that determines the type of bond that will form between the cross-linking agent and chitosan, depends on the pH of the solution. Hasan, S., Krishnaiah, A., Ghosh, T. K., Viswanath, D. S., Boddu, V. M., and Smith, E. D. “Adsorption of divalent cadmium from aqueous solutions onto chitosan-coated perlite beads, Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., 45, 5066-5077, 2006. The point of zero charge (PZC) value of pure chitosan is in the pH range of 6.2-6.8. See Hasan, S., Ghosh, Viswanath, D. S., Loyalka, S. K., and Sengupta, B. “Preparation and evaluation of fullers earth for removal of cesium from waste streams” Separation Science and Technology, 42 (4), 717-738, 2007. Chitosan is not soluble in alkaline pH, but at acidic pH, the amine groups present in the chitosan can undergo protonation to NH₃ ⁺ or (NH₂—H₃O)⁺.

Li et al. (2007) reported cross-linked chitosan/polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) beads with high mechanical strength. They observed that the H⁺ ions in the solution can act as both protection of amino groups of chitosan during the crosslinking reaction. Li, M., Cheng, S., and Yan, H. “Preparation of crosslinked chitosan/poly(vinyl alcohol) blend beads with high mechanical strength”, Green Chemistry, 9, 894-898, 2007.

Farris et al. (2010) studied the reaction mechanism for the cross-linking of gelatin with gluteraldehyde. Farris, S., Song, J., and Huang, Q. “Alternative reaction mechanism for the cross-linking of gelatin with gluteraldehyde” J. Agric. Food Chem., 58, 998-1003, 2010. They suggested that, at higher pH values, the cross-linking reaction is governed by Schiff's base reaction, whereas at low pH, the reaction may also involve —OH groups of hydroxyproline and hydroxylysine, leading to the formation of hemiacetals.

Hardy et al. (1969) proposed that, at acidic pH, gluteraldehyde is in equilibrium with its cyclic hemiacetal and polymers of the cyclic hemiacetal and an increase in temperature produces free aldehyde in acid solution. Hardy, P. M., Nicholas, A. C., and Rydon, H. N. “The nature of gluteraldehyde in aqueous solution” Journal of the Chemical Society (D), 565-566, 1969.

Several studies focused on chitosan-based cross-linked material for medical and radiopharmaceutical uses with some success. See, e.g., Hoffman, B., Seitz, D., Mencke, A., Kokott, A., and Ziegler, G. “Gluteraldehyde and oxidized dextran as crosslinker reagents for chitosan-based scaffolds for cartilage tissue engineering” J. Mater Sci: Mater Med, 20(7), 1495-1503, 2009; Salmawi, K. M. “Gamma radiation-induced crosslinked PVA/Chitosan blends for wound dressing” Journal of Macromolecular Science, Part A: Pure and Applied Chemistry, 44, 541-545, 2007; Desai, K. G., and Park, H. J. “Study of gamma-irradiation effects on chitosan microparticles” Drug Delivery, 13, 39-50, 2006; Silva, R. M., Silva, G. A., Coutinho, O. P., Mano, J. F., and Reis, R. L. “Preparation and characterization in simulated body conditions of gluteraldehyde crosslinked chitosan membranes” Journal of Material Science: Materials in Medicine, 15 (10), 1105-1112, 2004.

However, Sabharwal et al. (2004) reported that the radiation processing of natural polymers has drawn less attention as the natural polymers undergo chain scission reaction when exposed to high energy radiation. Sabharwal, S., Varshney, L., Chaudhary, A. D., and Ramnani, S. P. “Radiation processing of natural polymers: Achievements & Trends” In Radiation processing of polysaccharides, 29-37, IAEA, November, 2004. It is reported that irradiation of chitosan yields lower viscosity and chain scission of chitosan. See Kume, T., and Takehisa, M. “Effect of gamma-irradiation on sodium alginate and carrageenan powder” Agric. Biol. Chem. 47, 889-890, 1982; Ulanski, P., and Rosiak, J. M. “Preliminary studies on radiation induced changes in chitosan” Radiat. Phys. Chem. 39(1), 53-57, 1992. The H⁺ and OH⁻ radicals formed by radiolysis during irradiation of water accelerate the molecular chain scission of chitosan. The reaction between the above free radical and chitosan molecules leads to rapid degradation of chitosan in aqueous solution. See IAEA-TECDOC-1422, “Radiation processing of polysaccharides' International Atomic Energy Agency, November, 2004. These studies suggest that the use of chitosan in environments where it will be exposed to irradiation and potential radiolysis is problematic.

Nevertheless, the current demands for biocompatible polymeric materials in radiopharmaceutical and radioactive waste treatment have increased the interest in developing economically feasible alternative sources of acidic, alkaline, and radiation resistant polymer network structures. Recent development of chitosan-based materials in the area of medical, radiopharmaceuticals, and radioactive waste has drawn attention due to their availability and biocompatibility. See Alves, N. M., and Mano, J. F. “Chitosan derivatives obtained by chemical modifications for biomedical and environmental applications” International Journal of Biological Macromolecules, 43, 401-414, 2008; Berger, J., Reist, M., Mayer, J. M., Felt, O., Peppas, N. A., and Gurny, R. “Structure and interactions in covalently and ionically crosslinked chitosan hydrogels for biomedical applications, European Journal of Pharmaceutics and Biopharmaceutics, 57, 19-34, 2004. It is reported that the chemical changes in chitosan occur due to irradiation and the extent of radiation-induced reaction depends on the polymer network structure. See Zainol, I., Akil, H. M., and Mastor, A. “Effect of γ-ray irradiation on the physical and mechanical properties of chitosan powder” Material Science and Engineering C, 29, 292-297, 2009; Chang, K. P., Cheng, C. H., Chiang, Y. C., Lee, S. C. et al., “Irradiation of synthesized magnetic nanoparticles and its application for hyperthermia” Advanced Materials Research, 47-50, 1298-1301, 2008; Casmiro, M. H., Botelho, M. L., Leal, J. P., and Gil, M. H. “Study on chemical, UV and gamma radiation-induced grafting of 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate onto chitosan” Radiation Physics and Chemistry, 72, 731-735, 2005; Park et al. “Radioactive chitosan complex for radiation therapy” U.S. Pat. No. 5,762,903, Jun. 9, 1998; Wenwei, Z., Xiaoguang, Z., Li, Yu, Yuefang, Z., and Jiazhen, S. “Some chemical changes in chitosan induced by γ-ray irradiation” Polymer Degradation and Stability, 41, 83-84, 1993; Lim, L. Y., Khor, E., and Koo, O. “γ irradiation of chitosan” Journal of Biomedical Material Research, 43 (3), 282-290, 1998; Yoksan, R., Akashi, M., Miyata, M., and Chirachanchai, S. “Optimal γ-ray dose and irradiation conditions for producing low molecular weight chitosan that retains its chemical structure” Radiation Research, 161, 471-480, 2004; Lu, Y. H., Wei, G. S., and Peng, J. “Radiation degradation of chitosan in the presence of H₂O₂” Chinese Journal of Polymer Science, 22 (5), 439-444, 2004. However, there is very limited information available on the radiation effect on cross-linked chitosan composite matrices.

SUMMARY

One embodiment disclosed herein relates to a radiation-resistant sorbent comprising glutaraldehyde-crosslinked chitosan.

More particularly, disclosed herein are chitosan-based microporous composite micron-size particles and chitosan-titania microporous composite material which was prepared by cross-linking chitosan with gluteraldehyde in the presence of a catalyst.

Even more particularly, disclosed herein is a sorbent containing a microporous material of chitosan that has been crosslinked with glutaraldehyde in the presence of a catalyst, such as an acid (e.g., HCl) to a glutaraldehyde concentration of about 2 to 4 wt %, and which is resistant to degradation from exposure to beta and gamma radiation, and to degradation from exposure to acids or alkaline solutions.

Without wishing to be bound by theory, it is believed that the cross-linked microporous chitosan matrix enhances the acid resistance and mechanical strength of the chitosan particle. As a result, the uptake capacity of the cross-linked particles increases for metal ions from acidic or alkaline radioactive solution in comparison to available commercial resins and commercial aluminas. This increased uptake can result in efficiencies for molybdenum as high as 500-700 mg/g of sorbent, more particularly, about 600 mg/g of sorbent.

Described herein are embodiments of chitosan-based microporous composite materials which were prepared using solution casting and combination of solution casting and sol-gel method.

In one embodiment, chitosan was cross-linked with gluteraldehyde in the presence of acid as a catalyst at temperatures of around 70° C. under continuous stirring. Without wishing to be bound by theory, it is believed that amino groups present in the chitosan structure are protonated, and thus shielded from the reaction with gluteraldehyde. It is also believed that at temperatures of around 70° C., more aldehyde groups are available for reaction than are available at room temperature. In this case, without wishing to be bound by theory, it is believed that glutaraldehyde undergoes aldol condensation and the free aldehyde group will react with —OH groups of chitosan in the presence of an acid catalyst, so that the polymerization of chitosan with glutaraldehyde is a condensation polymerization. Reaction times generally range from about 4 hours to about 8 hours. In one embodiment, the mole ratio of chitosan hydroxyl group to gluteraldehyde is desirably maintained at around 4/1.

In a particular embodiment, the crosslinked material can be further processed by, washing to remove excess glutaraldehyde, drying, wet or dry milling, and additional chemical processing. One example of this additional chemical processing that has been found to be particularly suitable is at least partial oxidation with an oxidizer. In particular, oxidation with a permanganate (e.g., by a potassium permanganate solution containing at least about 14 mg Mn/L of solution) or other ambiphilic oxidizer is especially suitable for increasing the selectivity of the sorbent for Mo(VI) with respect to Tc(VII).

Desirably, the sorbent has a surface area that ranges between about 10 and about 100 m²/g, and more particularly is about 25 m²/g. Also desirably, the sorbent has a point of zero charge ranges from about 7.5 to about 8.8, and more particularly is about 8.8.

Embodiments of the sorbents described herein have an excellent holding capacity for molybdenum, and can sorb molybdenum in amounts of around 60 wt %, based on the dry weight of the sorbent, or higher. This holding capacity can be around 6.25 mmol/g of sorbent, or higher. The sorbents also have excellent selectivity for molybdenum with respect to technetium, and are able to hold molybdenum while passing pertechnate ion in saline solution with an efficiency of at least about 80%. Embodiments of the sorbents disclosed herein also provide excellent capacity to sorb heavy metals, including, e.g., the ability to sorb Hg in amounts of 2.96 mmol/g dry sorbent or higher from aqueous solution at pH 6.

In another embodiment, titanium oxide was incorporated into the chitosan gluteraldehyde composite polymer matrix. The development of crystalline silica titanate (CST) and titanium-based oxide materials has paved the way for metal ions adsorption studies onto hydrous titanium oxide from the radioactive and non-radioactive waste streams. See Anthony, R. G., Dosch, R. G., Gu, D., and Philip, C. V. “Use of silicotitanates for removing cesium and strontium from defense waste” Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., 33, 2702-2705, 1994; Maria, P., Meng, X., Korfiatis, G. P., and Jing, C. “Adsorption mechanism of arsenic on nanocrystalline titanium dioxide” Environ. Sci. Technol, 40, 1257-1262, 2006; Meng et al., “Methods of preparing a surface-activated titanium oxide product and of using same in water treatment process” U.S. Pat. No. 7,497,952 B2, Mar. 3, 2009. Qazi and Ahmed (2011) reported the hydrous titanium oxide as an adsorbent for ⁹⁹Mo and its potential for use in ^(99m)Tc generator. Qazi, Q. M., and Ahmed, M. “Preparation and evaluation of hydrous titanium oxide as a high affinity adsorbent for molybdenum (⁹⁹Mo) and its potential for use in ^(99m)Tc generators” Radiochimica Acta, Doi: 10.1524/ract.2011.18172011. It has been suggested that titanium oxide can form surface complex with metal ion resulting from a bidenate bonding mode to surface oxygen atoms. Hasan, S., Ghosh, T. K., Prelas, M. A., Viswanath, D. S., and Boddu, V. M. “Adsorption of uranium on a novel bioadsorbent chitosan coated perlite” Nuclear Technology, 159, 59-71, 2007.

However, none of these documents disclose that TiO₂, when dispersed on chitosan matrix, would enhance the overall capacity for metal ions uptake from radioactive waste solution. In the method disclosed herein, hydrous titanium oxide gel was prepared using the sol-gel technique. The titanium oxide gel was incorporated into the chitosan and gluteraldehyde matrix in the presence of HCl as a catalyst.

Thus, one embodiment relates to a method for preparing a radiation-resistant sorbent, comprising:

combining chitosan with water in the presence of an acid to form a chitosan gel;

adding glutaraldehyde to the gel to form a semi-solid mass in presence of catalyst at 70° C.;

washing the semi-solid mass to remove unreacted glutaraldehyde and form a washed mass;

suspending the washed mass in aqueous base to form a neutralized crosslinked mass; and

drying the neutralized crosslinked mass to form the radiation-resistant sorbent.

Another embodiment relates to such a method further comprising:

forming an amorphous titania gel by acid catalyzed hydrolysis and condensation of titanium isopropoxide;

mixing the amorphous titania gel with the chitosan gel under conditions sufficient for the gels to react prior to said adding glutaraldehyde.

In one embodiment, the chitosan-based microporous composite material was then suspended in a solution with pH 3 and irradiated at 50,000 had using ⁶⁰Coirradiatior. The specific objectives of this work were to 1) prepare chitosan-based microporous composite particles to adsorb metal ions from highly acidic or alkaline radioactive waste solutions; and 2) optimize the cross-linking process to obtain maximum metal binding sites.

Thus, another embodiment relates to a method of separating isotopes from mixtures thereof, comprising:

contacting a mixture of at least two isotopes with a radiation resistant sorbent according to claim 1 that preferentially sorbs at least one of said isotopes;

sorbing at least one of said isotopes onto or into said sorbent while one or more of the remaining isotopes are not significantly sorbed by the sorbent;

removing said one or more remaining isotopes from said sorbent.

Chitosan cross-linked composite is an excellent low cost alternative adsorption material compare to available resins, and thus a desirable adsorbent material to remove metal ions from radioactive and nonradioactive aqueous solutions. It has been found that the success of adsorption processes in the ⁹⁹Mo/^(99m)Tc generator systems depends largely on the cost and capacity of the adsorbents and the ease of ^(99m)Tc release from the generator. The main problem with this particular method from a radiation safety standpoint involves the “breakthrough”, or partial elution of the ⁹⁹Mo parent along with the ^(99m)Tc from the generator, which must be kept within Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) standards. Embodiments of the materials and methods described herein provide good, selective release of ^(99m)Tc from the generator, thereby solving this problem and fulfilling a need for such a generator.

In addition, embodiments of the chitosan crosslinked composites disclosed herein can be used in a method for separating or concentrating or both one or more heavy metals from a liquid stream, such as a waste stream or a process stream, by contacting a liquid stream containing one or more heavy metals with the chitosan crosslinked composite and sorbing one or more of said heavy metals thereon.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

Various aspects of the embodiments disclosed herein can be understood more clearly by reference to the drawings, which should not be interpreted as limiting the claimed invention.

FIG. 1 is a scanning electron microscope photomicrograph that shows chitosan and embodiments of modified chitosan (MPCM) disclosed herein. FIG. 1 a shows unmodified chitosan; FIG. 1 b shows the an embodiment of MPCM material.

FIG. 2 is a graph showing the results of a thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) of chitosan and an embodiment of MPCM.

FIG. 3 is a graph showing an X-ray diffraction pattern of chitosan and an embodiment of MPCM material.

FIG. 4 is a graph showing Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectra of chitosan and an embodiment of MPCM material disclosed herein.

FIG. 5 is a graph showing X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) survey scans for chitosan and an embodiment of MPCM.

FIG. 6 is a graph showing X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) spectra for chitosan and an embodiment of MPCM. FIGS. 6 a, 6 b, and 6 c show the C 1s, O 1s, and N 1s positions, respectively.

FIG. 7 is a graph of energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDS) microanalysis spectra of an embodiment of MPCM herein. FIG. 7 a shows spectra of chitosan and an embodiment of MPCM before and after irradiation. FIG. 7 b shows comparison of chitosan and an embodiment of MPCM. FIG. 7 c shows comparison of an embodiment of MPCM before and after irradiation.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing a reaction pathway for the preparation of an embodiment of MPCM described herein.

FIG. 9 is a graph showing FTIR spectra of an embodiment of modified chitosan disclosed herein before and after irradiation.

FIG. 10 is a graph showing X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) spectra for an embodiment of MPCM before an after radiation. FIGS. 10 a, 10 b, and 10 c show the C 1s, O 1s, and N 1s positions, respectively.

FIG. 11 is a graph showing surface charge of an embodiment of MPCM with and without exposure to 1% of Mo (VI) in solution in the presence of 1 M NaNO₃.

FIG. 12 is a graph showing the effect of pH on molybdate sorption on an embodiment of MPCM, with initial conditions of a concentration of 5.21 mmol/L and temperature 298 K.

FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram showing reaction mechanisms for sorption of Mo (VI) onto an embodiment of MPCM from aqueous solution.

FIG. 14 is a graph showing equilibrium sorption isotherms for Mo (VI) uptake on an embodiment of MPCM, showing experimental data (•) correlated with the Langmuir isotherm model (solid line) under conditions where the concentration of Mo(VI) in solution is in the range of 1 mmol/L to 94 mmol/L, temperature 298 K, pH ˜3.

FIG. 15 a is a graph showing a breakthrough curve for Mo (VI) sorption on a bed of MPCM, the inlet influent concentration was 5.21 mmole Mo (VI)/L at the pH of 3.; FIG. 15 b is a graph showing the effect of influent solution pH on the breakthrough curve for Mo (VI) from a column packed with an embodiment of MPCM, The inlet influent concentration was 5.21 mmole Mo (VI)/L with 153.8 mmole NaCl/L at the pH of 4 to 7, respectively. For both figures, the bed height of the column was 3.2 cm. the inlet influent flow rate was 1 mL/min.

FIG. 16 is a graph showing breakthrough curves for pertechnate from a column packed with an embodiment of MPCM without oxidation which was loaded with 6.25 mM of Mo (VI)/gram of MPCM. The volume of the column was 2.5 cm³. The inlet flow rate was 1 mL/min. The inlet influent concentration was 0.25 mM pertechnetate/L in saline (0.9% NaCl) solution.

FIG. 17 is a graph showing the surface charge of oxidized and non-oxidized MPCM exposed to 1% Mo (VI) in aqueous solution in the presence of 1N NaNO₃.

FIG. 18 is a graph showing an elution profile for ^(99m)Tc from an embodiment of MPCM loaded with Mo (VI) spiked with ⁹⁹Mo.

FIG. 19 is a graph showing the relationship between number of elution(s) and the percentages of ^(99m)Tc and Mo (VI) release from an embodiment of MPCM as sorbent.

FIG. 20 is a flow diagram for a process using a ^(99m)Tc/⁹⁹Mo generator systems and a ⁹⁹Mo production using neutrons capture method, using an embodiment of MPCM as the sorbent.

FIG. 21 is a graph showing FTIR spectra of chitosan and another embodiment of modified chitosan disclosed herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF SPECIFIC EMBODIMENTS

The methods disclosed herein and the resulting modified chitosan materials, as well as methods for the use thereof, can be better understood by reference to the following examples, which are intended illustrate, not to limit, the invention or the appended claims.

Medium molecular weight chitosan (about 190,000 to about 310,000, as determined by viscosity data) that has been 75-85% deacetylated was obtained from Sigma-Aldrich Chemical Corporation, WI, USA. All chemicals used in the examples were of analytical grade.

The modified chitosan disclosed herein can be prepared according to the reactions shown schematically in FIG. 7, by crosslinking with glutaraldehyde under acidic conditions at temperature conditions set forth below. While the amount of glutaraldehyde used may vary somewhat, it has been found effective to use from about 2 ml to about 10 ml, more particularly from about 2 ml to about 8 ml, even more particularly, about 6 ml, of glutaraldehyde per 4 g of chitosan. The pH of the crosslinking reaction between glutaraldehyde and chitosan may also vary somewhat, but it has been found effective to use a pH of between about 0.7 and about 3, more particularly between about 0.7 and 2, even more particularly, of about 1.0. The temperature of the crosslinking reaction may also vary, but is desirably between about 50° C. and about 80° C., more particularly, around 70° C.

Example 1

The ionic capacity of the chitosan used in this study was in the range of 9 to 19 milliequivalents/g, measured using a standard titrametric method. About 4 g of chitosan was added to 300 mL DI water with 1 mL acetic acid and stirred for 2 hr at 70° C. to form a gel. Approximately 5 mL of HCl/HNO₃ was added into the chitosan gel and kept under continuous stirring for another 1 hr at 70° C. to assist protonation of the amino substituent groups, which is beneficial for the reasons given below.

The reaction with gluteraldehyde was performed by drop-wise addition of approximately 6 mL gluteraldehyde solution, having a concentration of 50%, to the acidic chitosan gel under continuous stirring (established based on trial and error, but generally from 200 rpm to 500 rpm) at 70° C. The final pH of the mixture was approximately 1.0. The amount of gluteraldehyde was used in this study was established based on trial and error basis. The mixture was kept under continuous vigorous stirring (500 rpm) at 70° C. for another 1 hr to obtain semi-solid gel. The amino groups present in the chitosan are much more reactive with aldehyde through Schiff's reaction than the hydroxyl groups of chitosan. It was envisaged that, at 70° C., more free aldehyde groups will be present in the solution than would be present at room temperature. In acidic solution, the protonation of the amine group will inhibit the formation of complexes of aldehyde and amino groups. Moreover, glutaraldehyde may undergo aldol condensation and the reaction of hydroxyl groups of chitosan with free aldehyde can be catalyzed by acid at 70° C.

The resulting mass was then thoroughly washed with 2% monoethanol amine to remove any unreacted gluteraldehyde. The mass was then suspended in 0.1M NaOH solution for 4 to 6 hours. The cross-linked mass was separated from the solution and washed with 0.1M HCl and then with deionized water (DI) until the pH of the effluent solution was 7. The cross-linked mass was then dried in a vacuum oven overnight at 70° C. The cross-linked chitosan-gluteraldehyde composite is referred to as “MPCM” or “microporous composite material” herein.

The MPCM was ground using a laboratory jar mill to a particle size in the range of about 50 to 200 μm. An amount of these MPCM particles was suspended overnight in aqueous solution having pH 3. The pH of the solution was maintained using 0.1M HNO₃. The suspended MPCM particles were irradiated using ⁶⁰Co as a γ source. The characterizations of the MPCM sample were performed using SEM, EDS X-ray microanalysis, FTIR, and XPS spectroscopic analysis.

A scanning electron micrograph (SEM) of chitosan and MPCM material was taken to study the surface morphology and is shown in FIG. 1. The SEM secondary electron micrograph of the samples were obtained using backscatter electrons with an accelerating potential of 10 keV. The SEM micrograph of the cross-section of chitosan and MPCM sample is shown in FIGS. 1 a and 1 b, respectively. It appears from FIG. 1 a that chitosan is nonporous, and from FIG. 1 b the MPCM appears to be microporous in nature.

TGA analysis of the MPCM as-prepared in the lab and pure chitosan, respectively, was performed using a TGA (TA Instruments) analyzer in a flowing nitrogen atmosphere (200 mL/min). For each experiment, approximately 20 mg of MPCM was heated to the temperature range from 30 to 600° C. in an open alumina crucible at predetermined heating rate. TGA measures the amount and rate of weight change of the sample as it is heated at a specified rate. Thermogravimetric analysis of both MPCM and chitosan was obtained providing complimentary information about changes in composition as heating progresses under controlled conditions. The heating rate in this analysis was set to 5° C./min. TGA profiles as shown in FIG. 2 indicate a two-step decomposition process for pure chitosan while for MPCM it decomposes slowly with the increase in temperature.

Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) of the chitosan at a heating rate of 5° C./min in nitrogen atmosphere (200 mL/min) indicates that complete dehydration occurs at 250° C. with a weight loss of 8%. The anhydrous chitosan further decomposed in the second step with a weight loss of 32% at 360° C. It was burned out completely at 600° C. with a further 12% loss of weight. The remaining 48% is the burnt residue of the chitosan at 600° C.

In case of MPCM, The complete dehydration occurs at 230° C. with a weight loss of 12%. The anhydrous MPCM burned out completely at 600° C. with a weight loss of 36%. The remaining 52% is the burnt residue of MPCM at 600° C. It may be noted that the combustion product of MPCM is 4% less compared to chitosan, which indicates that MPCM contains 4% of crosslinking agent, such as glutaraldehyde, that was burned out completely in this heating range.

The swelling behavior and acid tolerance of the MPCM material were also evaluated. The swelling behavior of MPCM was performed by immersing it in deionized water and saline solution using a process described by Yazdani-Pedram et al., “Synthesis and unusual swelling behavior of combined cationic/non-ionic hydrogels based on chitosan,” Macromol. Biosci., 3, 577-581 (2003).

Swelling behaviour of chitosan was also studied with deionized water and saline solution.

The swelling ratio of the chitosan and MPCM was calculated using the following equation: Swelling ratio(%)=[(V _(s) −V _(d))/V _(d)]×100,  1 where V_(s) is the volume of swollen MPCM and V_(d) is the volume of dry sample. In deionized water it was observed that the chitosan swelled by approximately 105% of its original volume at 24 hours of equilibrium time. MPCM shows very fast swelling behavior reaching approximately 200% increase within five minutes and reaching equilibrium at 24 hours. The swelling studies with deionized water were performed within the pH range of 3 to 6. At equilibrium, the maximum volume of the MPCM was almost 219% more than its dry volume.

Similar swelling behavior of MPCM was also observed for saline (0.9% NaCl) solution. At equilibrium, the MPCM volume increases up to 223% of its original dry volume in saline solution. The results of the swelling studies indicate that the hydrophilicity of the MPCM is greater than chitosan. It is reported that the swelling behavior of chitosan hydrogel depends on the ionisable groups that are present within the gel structure. See Ray et al., Development and Characterization of Chitosan Based Polymeric Hydrogel Membranes, Designed Monomers & Polymers, Vol. 13, 3, 193-206 (2010). Due to protonation of —NH₂ groups of MPCM in the solution pH range of 3 to 6, the rapid swelling behavior of MPCM in deionized water can be attributed to high repulsion of —NH₃ ⁺ groups. In saline solution, at pH higher than 6, the carboxylic acid groups become ionized and the electrostatic repulsive forces between the charge sites (COO—) cause increasing in swelling. See Yazdani-Pedram et al., supra; Radhakumari et al., “Biopolymer composite of Chitosan and Methyl Methacrylate for Medical Applications,” Trends Biomater. Artif. Organs, 18, 2, (2005); Felinto et al., “The swelling behavior of chitosan hydrogel membranes obtained by UV- and γ-radiation,” Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research B, 265, 418-424 (2007).

The MPCM sample was submerged in different concentrations of HCl, HNO₃, and H₂SO₄ acid for 24 hours. Chitosan tends to form a gel in acidic media making it unsuitable for its use in an adsorption column for separation of metal ions from aqueous solutions. One of the main objectives of this study was to make a chitosan-based acid resistant material while exposing more —NH₂ groups, which is the active metal binding site for chitosan. Table 1 shows the results for the acid tolerance capacity of MPCM. It was observed that MPCM material shows better HCl tolerance capacity than it does tolerance for HNO₃ and H₂SO₄. The physical size and shape of MPCM did not show any significant change up to 12M HCl, 12M H₂SO₄ and 3.9 M HNO₃ solution but the MPCM appeared to be dissolved completely in 7.8 M HNO₃ solution. It is evident that the MPCM is more acid resistant compared to chitosan.

TABLE 1 Effect of different concentrations of acid on the physical properties of material HCl Strength H₂SO₄ HNO₃ of solution Strength of Solution Strength of Solution Sample 12 18 12 9 7 5 3 15.6 13.3 11.7 7.8 3.9 M M M M M M M M M M M M Chitosan x x x x x x x x x x x x MPCM ✓ x ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ x x x x ✓ ✓ = not-dissolved x = tends to form gel or completely dissolve

FIG. 3 shows the XRD pattern for pure chitosan and MPCM beads. The chitosan sample showed a diffraction peak near 20°, indicative of the relatively regular crystal lattices (110, 040) of chitosan. See Wan et al., “Biodegradable Polylactide/Chitosan Blend Membranes,” Biomacromolecules 7(4): 1362-1372 (2006). The peak observed for MPCM is appeared to be broadened suggesting that the MPCM sample is amorphous in nature. It also indicates that chitosan and glutaraldehyde formed a complex in the presence of acid; therefore the crystalline structure of the chitosan was disrupted by the chemical bonding between chitosan and glutaraldehyde.

Fourier Transformed infrared spectra (FTIR) of the MPCM sample prepared above were examined on a BRUKER FTIR spectrometer equipped with a broad-band, N₂ cooled mercury-cadmium-telluride (MCT) detector and a KCl beam splitter. FTIR spectra were collected in absorbance mode with 8 cm⁻¹ resolution using 128 scans ranged from 400 to 4000 cm⁻¹. The intermolecular interactions between chitosan and gluteraldehyde in the presence of HCl acid are reflected by changes in the characteristics of IR peaks. FIG. 4 shows the comparison of IR spectra of chitosan with MPCM. In the region of 2900 cm⁻¹ to 3500 cm⁻¹ of the spectrum, chitosan and MPCM exhibited peaks at 3498 cm⁻¹ and 2950 cm⁻¹, respectively, corresponding to the stretching O—H and N—H groups and C—H stretching vibration in CH, and —CH₂. The peaks at 1350 to 1450 cm⁻¹ indicate alkane C—H bending.

The complicated nature of absorption spectrum in the 1650-1500 cm⁻¹ region suggests that aromatic ring bands and double-bond (C═C) vibrations overlap the C═O stretching vibration bands and OH bending vibration bands. The peaks expected in this region of IR spectra include protonated amine (—NH₃ ⁺), amine (—NH₂), and carbonyl (—CONHR) band. FIG. 4 shows a peak at 1600 cm⁻¹ with a shoulder like peak centered at around 1570 cm⁻¹ and 1670 cm⁻¹ represent —NH₂ and amide I, respectively for chitosan. However, the presence of a comparatively sharper peak at 1590 cm⁻¹ in MPCM than the peak observed for chitosan suggests the presence of NH₃ ⁺ band in the MPCM sample.

The XPS analysis of chitosan and the MPCM sample prepared above was performed to gain a better understanding of intermolecular interaction between chitosan and gluteraldehyde. In the XPS analysis, a survey scan was used to ensure that the energy range was suitable to detect all the elements. The XPS data were obtained using a KRATOS model AXIS 165 XPS spectrometer with monochromatic Mg X-rays (hν=1253.6 eV), which were used as the excitation source at a power of 240 W. The spectrometer was equipped with an eight-channel hemispherical detector, and the pass energy of 5-160 eV was used during the analysis of the samples. Each sample was exposed to X-rays for the same period of time and intensity. The XPS system was calibrated using peaks of UO₂(4f7/2), whose binding energy was 379.2 eV. A 0° probe angle was used for analysis of the samples.

FIG. 5 shows the peak positions of C 1s, O 1s, and N 1s obtained by the survey scan of chitosan and the MPCM sample prepared above, respectively. FIG. 6 shows the peak positions in detail for C 1s, O 1s, and N 1s present in chitosan and MPCM. The C-1s peak observed showed two peaks on deconvolution, one for C—N at 284.3 eV and the other one for C—C at 283.5 eV (FIG. 6 a). In the MPCM sample, the C—Cs peak appears to be folded and shifted slightly, whereas the C—N peak showed higher intensity compared to chitosan (FIG. 6 a). The peaks for oxygen containing groups (O1s) were found at 530.5 eV and 531.1 eV for chitosan and MPCM, respectively (FIG. 6 b).

Compared with the C 1s and O1s peaks of MPCM, it was observed that the C—C peak of chitosan at 283.5 eV folded and O1s peak shifted from 530.5 eV to 531.1 eV due to cross-linking reaction with glutaraldehyde. This suggests that the O1s component may be single bonded corresponding to —OH or C—O moiety in the structure for different surface oxygen containing functional groups. See Wen et al., “Copper-based nanowire materials: Templated Syntheses, Characterizations, and Applications,” Langmuir, 21, 10, 4729-4737 (2005). Chemical shifts are considered significant when they exceed 0.5 eV. See Hasan et al., “Adsorption of divalent cadmium from aqueous solutions onto chitosan-coated perlite beads,” Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., 45, 5066-5077 (2006). As a result, shifting of the O 1s peak in MPCM sample also indicates that the glutaraldehyde reacted with oxygen-containing functional groups of chitosan. The XPS data suggests that the chemical binding of glutaraldehyde occurs with the —CH₂OH or OH groups on the chitosan structure which is also in agreement with the data obtained from FTIR analysis (FIG. 4).

The N 1s peak for chitosan was at 397.5 eV (FWHM 1.87) for nitrogen in the —NH₂ group of chitosan (FIG. 5 c); for the MPCM the N 1s peak appeared at 397.7 eV. One of the objectives for investigating the N 1s peak was to identify whether amine groups, which are active metal binding sites for chitosan, were involved in cross-linking reactions with glutaraldehyde. FIG. 6 c shows a strong N1s peak for MPCM at 397.7 eV, which can be assigned to —NH₂ groups, suggesting that the amine groups of chitosan were not affected by the cross-linking reaction with glutaraldehyde. This is also evident from the FTIR spectra (FIG. 4).

Table 2 shows the XPS data for surface elemental analysis of the sample of MPCM, as determined from the peak area, after correcting for the experimentally determined sensitivity factor (±5%). It has been found that by preparing porous chitosan based material, in this case the embodiment of MPCM described above, results in the exposure of more NH₂ groups on the surface of the material. The nitrogen concentration, as determined from the N 1s peak on the sample of MPCM, was almost twice that calculated for chitosan (Table 2). It is believed that the nitrogen content in the MPCM came entirely from chitosan. The high nitrogen content in the MPCM, as shown in the Table 2, was due to the microporous nature of the MPCM which makes more amine groups available on the surface than is the case in the nonporous chitosan. This is also consistent with the results reported by Hasan et al., supra, obtained by dispersing chitosan onto perlite. The changes in peak intensity of C 1s and binding energy of O 1s peaks at 531.0 eV of the MPCM sample compared to chitosan are believed to be due to the reaction with glutaraldehyde in presence of acid as a catalyst.

TABLE 2 Absolute Binding Energy (BE) for the elements present in the chitosan and MPCM obtained from X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) Analysis. C 1s N 1s O 1s Atomic Atomic Atomic BE weight BE weight BE weight Sample (eV) (%) (eV) (%) (eV) (%) Chitosan 283.5 57.61 397.5 3.91 530.5 28.11 MPCM 284 72.09 397.7 6.85 531.1 19.29 MPCM-I* 283.5 72.25 397.5 5.49 531.1 19.72 *MPCM-I sample after irradiation at 50,000 krad using ⁶⁰Co γ-source.

The energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) X-ray microanalysis was performed on the same MPCM sample as was used for the SEM micrograph. The EDS microanalysis was used for elemental analysis of MPCM (FIG. 7). The peaks for carbon, oxygen, and nitrogen are shown at 0.3 keV, 0.36, and 0.5 keV, respectively, which are the main components of chitosan (FIG. 7 a, 7 b). Due to the reaction with glutaraldehyde, the intensity of the carbon peak for MPCM increases; whereas, the intensity of the oxygen peak decreases in comparison to chitosan (FIG. 7 b). FIG. 7 b also shows that the nitrogen peak present in the MPCM sample shifted, due to protonation of amine groups (—NH₂) compared to the nitrogen peak in chitosan. Based on the FTIR, EDS, and XPS analysis, and without wishing to be bound by theory, the possible reaction mechanisms of glutaraldehyde with the —OH groups of chitosan through the formation of acetal bonds are given in FIG. 8.

The MPCM sample described above was evaluated for radiation stability by irradiation with a ⁶⁰Co source. The IR spectra of the MPCM composite sample before and after being irradiated using a ⁶⁰Co source are shown in FIG. 9. The results in FIG. 9 shows that the MPCM sample suspended in water at pH 3.0 can tolerate γ-radiation to about 50,000 krad without losing a substantial percentages of its identity.

FIG. 7 c shows EDS spectra of chitosan and MPCM particles before and after irradiation at 50,000 krad with a ⁶⁰Co source. FIG. 7 c indicates that the intensity of carbon, oxygen, and nitrogen peaks did not change substantially after irradiation of the sample. FIG. 10 shows the peak positions of carbon, oxygen, and nitrogen obtained by the XPS analysis of the MPCM sample before and after irradiation. It was observed that the magnitude of total C 1s peak binding energy changed after irradiation as shown in Table 2. The C 1s peak for the MPCM sample was 283.5 eV, while for the MPCM sample after irradiation; two peaks were observed at 283.5 and 284.5 eV (FIG. 10 a). The N1s peak present in the MPCM sample after irradiation around 397.5 eV can be assigned to NH₂ groups in the MPCM structure. No change was observed for O-1s peak of the irradiated MPCM sample. The magnitude of the binding energy shift depends on the concentration of different atoms, in particular on the surface of a material. In comparison with the XPS (FIG. 10 a-c), the N 1s and O 1s peak of the MPCM sample did not shift before and after irradiation (Table 2), indicating that the chemical state of N atoms was not much affected after irradiation. This is also reflected in the EDS and FTIR spectra as shown in FIGS. 7 and 9.

The MPCM sample described above was evaluated for molybdenum sorption using batch techniques. About 1.0 gram of MPCM adsorbent was suspended in 100 mL solution containing ammonium molybdate in the range of 1 mmole/L to 94 mmole/L. The initial pH values of solutions were adjusted from 2.0 to 8.0 using either 0.01 M NaOH or 0.1 M HCl solution. The solutions were then kept in a shaker (160 rpm) for 24 hrs at 298K. After 24 hrs, the final pH was recorded for each solution and the solutions were centrifuged for 5 minutes at 3000 rpm to separate the supernatant from the solution. The supernatant was then filtered through a 0.45-μm membrane filter and the filtrate was analyzed for molybdenum removal by an Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP) (Agilent 7700X) that is equipped with mass spectroscopy for molybdenum detection. The adsorption isotherm was obtained by varying the initial concentration of molybdenum in the solution. The amount of molybdenum adsorbed per unit mass of adsorbent (q_(e)) was calculated using the equation,

$\begin{matrix} {q_{e} = \frac{\left( {C_{i} - C_{e}} \right)V}{M}} & 2 \end{matrix}$ where C_(i) and C_(e) represent initial and equilibrium concentrations in mg/L, respectively, V is the volume of the solution in liters (L), and M is the mass of the adsorbent in gram (g).

The surface charge of a bead of MPCM sample was determined by a standard potentiometric titration method in the presence of a symmetric electrolyte, sodium nitrate, as per Hasan et al., supra. The magnitude and sign of the surface charge was measured with respect to the point of zero charge (PZC). The pH at which the net surface charge of the solid is zero at all electrolyte concentrations is termed as the point of zero charge. The pH of the PZC for a given surface depends on the relative basic and acidic properties of the solid and allows an estimation of the net uptake of H⁺ and OH⁻ ions from the solution. The results are shown in FIG. 11.

The PZC value of the sample of MPCM prepared as described above was found to be 8.8, which was similar to that reported by Hasan et al., supra, for chitosan coated perlite bead. However, it is reported that the PZC value of pure chitosan is within the pH range of 6.2 to 6.8. See Hasan et al., supra. It is observed from FIG. 11 that a positively charged surface prevailed at a relatively low pH range. The surface charge of MPCM was almost zero in the pH range of 7.5 to 8.8. The protonation of the MPCM sharply increased at the pH range of 7.5 to 2.5 making the surface positive. At pH below 2.5, the difference between the initial pH and the pH after the equilibration time was not significant, suggesting complete protonation of amine (—NH₂) groups present in MPCM. At higher pH, 7.5 to 8.8, the surface charge of the MPCM slowly decreased, indicating slow protonation of MPCM. In case of chitosan, the extent of protonation is reported to be as high as 97% at a pH of 4.3. However, it decreases as the pH increased. The extent of protonation of chitosan surface is reported to be 91%, 50%, and 9% at pH 5.3, 6.3, and 7.3, respectively. See Hasan et al. “Dispersion of chitosan on perlite for enhancement of copper (II) adsorption capacity” Journal of Hazardous Materials, 52 2, 826-837, 2008.

Without wishing to be bound by theory, it is believed that the PZC value of 8.8 and the behavior of the surface charge of the MPCM is due to the modification of chitosan when cross-linked with glutaraldehyde in the presence of acid as a catalyst, which makes it amphoteric in nature in the pH range of 7.5 to 8.8.

The effect of pH on adsorption of molybdenum by MPCM was studied by varying the pH of the solution between 2 and 8 (FIG. 12). The pH of molybdenum solutions were first adjusted between 2 and 8 using either 0.1NH₂SO₄ or 0.1M NaOH, and then MPCM was added. As the adsorption progressed, the pH of the solution increased slowly. No attempt was made to maintain a constant pH of the solution during the course of the experiment. The amount of molybdenum uptake at the equilibrium solution concentration is shown for each different initial pH of the solution in FIG. 12. The uptake of molybdenum by MPCM increased as the pH increased from 2 to 4. Although a maximum uptake was noted at a pH of 3, as the pH of the solution increased above 6, the uptake of molybdenum onto MPCM started to decrease. Accordingly, experiments were not conducted at a pH higher than the PZC of the MPCM sample.

In order to adsorb a metal ion on an adsorbent from a solution the metal should form an ion in the solution. The types of ions formed in the solution and the degree of ionization depends on the solution pH. In the case of MPCM, the main functional group responsible for metal ion adsorption is the amine (—NH₂) group. Depending on the solution pH, these amine groups can undergo protonation to NH₃ ⁺ or (NH₂—H₃O)⁺, and the rate of protonation will depend on the solution pH. Therefore, the surface charge on the MPCM will determine the type of bond formed between the metal ion and the adsorbent surface. Depending on the solution pH, molybdenum in an aqueous solution can be hydrolyzed with the formation of various species. At relatively high and low pH values both the MoO₄ ²⁻ and various isopolyanions (mainly Mo₈O₂₄ ⁶⁻) predominate. The MoO₄ ²⁻ anion undergoes formation of many different polyanions in acidic solutions. See Guibal et al., “Molybdenum Sorption by Cross-linked Chitosa Beads: Dynamic Studies”. Water Environment Research, 71, 1, 10-17, 1999; Mercê et al., “Molybdenum (VI) Binded to Humic and Nitrohumic Acid Models in Aqueous Solutions. Salicylic, 3-Nitrosaliculic, 5-Nitrosalicylic and 3,5 Dinitrosalicylic Acids, Part 2” J. Braz. Chem. Soc., 17, 3, 482-490, 2006. It is reported that even if the polyanion is present in the solution the adsorption still occurs via MoO₄ ²⁻ formation. See Jezlorowski et al., “Raman and Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Characterization of Molybdena on Alumina” The Journal od Physical Chemistry, 83, 9, 1166-1173, 1979; El Shafei et al., “Association of Molybdenum Ionic Species with Alumina Surface,” Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, 228, 105-113, 2000. The degradation of polyanions in the solution occurs due to an increased local pH close to the adsorbent surface.

As noted above, it was observed that the MPCM had a maximum adsorption capacity at a pH of around 3 from a solution of molybdenum ions. Without wishing to be bound by theory, it is believed that the amine group of the MPCM has a lone pair of electrons from nitrogen, which primarily act as an active site for the formation of a complex with a metal ion. As mentioned earlier, at lower pH values, the amine group of MPCM undergoes protonation, forming NH₃ ⁺ leading to an increased electrostatic attraction between NH₃ ⁺ and sorbate anion. Since the surface of MPCM exhibits positive charge in the pH range of 2.5 to 7.5, the anionic molybdenum (Mo (VI)) is presumably the major species being adsorbed by Coulombic interactions. As mentioned earlier, the pH of the solution was found to increase after adsorption, which can be attributed to the H⁺ ions released from the surface of the MPCM as the result of sorption of the molybdenum-containing anions from solution. In the case of MPCM, the protonation of NH₂ groups occurs at a rather low pH range. The fact that pH of the solution increased as the adsorption progressed suggests that Mo (VI) formed a covalent bond with a NH₂ group.

As the equilibrium pH increased from lower pH toward the pH at the PZC (pH_(PZC)), the decreased percentage removal of Mo (VI) was attributed to the decreasing electrostatic attraction between the surface of MPCM and anionic Mo (VI) species. It may be noted that the PZC of MPCM is found to be shifted towards 4.5 in the presence of molybdenum ions, as compared to the PZC of MPCM without said ions (FIG. 11). The shift of PZC of MPCM towards lower pH indicates strong specific adsorption and inner-sphere surface complexation occurs due to molybdenum adsorption. Similar findings were reported by with the adsorption of molybdenum onto gibbsite. See Goldberg, S. “Competitive Adsorption of Molybdenum in the Presence of Phosphorus or Sulfur on Gibbsite,” Soil Science, 175, 3, 105-110, 2010. Based on the surface charge analysis and pH studies, the reaction mechanisms that are occurs between the surface of MPCM and molybdenum species in solution are given in FIG. 13.

The equilibrium adsorption isotherm of molybdenum uptake on MPCM was determined at 298K temperature in the concentration range of 1 mmole/L to 94 mmole/L. As mentioned in the previous section, the maximum adsorption capacity of molybdenum on MPCM occurs at a pH of 3. Therefore, the equilibrium isotherm experiments were carried out at a pH of 3, if not stated otherwise. The concentration profiles during molybdenum uptake by the MPCM from various concentrations of the solution shows that approximately 60% of molybdenum was adsorbed during the first 4 hours of an experimental run. The equilibrium was attained monotonically at 24 hours in most of the experimental runs.

The MPCM material contains amino groups that are available for characteristic coordination bonding with metal ions. Adsorption of metal ion, when pH dependent, may be described by the following one-site Langmuir equation. The effect of pH was incorporated by introducing a parameter “a” that is dependent on pH of the solution. The expression is given below:

$\begin{matrix} {\left. {\text{-}{SH}}\leftrightarrow{{\text{-}S} + H^{+}} \right.;{K_{H}\mspace{14mu} S\text{:}\mspace{14mu}{surface}\mspace{14mu}{concentration}}} & 3 \\ {\left. {{\text{-}S} + M}\leftrightarrow{\text{-}{SM}} \right.;{k_{M}\mspace{14mu} M\text{:}\mspace{14mu}{metal}\mspace{14mu}{ion}}} & 4 \\ {{q = \frac{q_{m}\alpha\;{K_{m}\lbrack M\rbrack}}{1 + {\alpha\;{K_{m}\lbrack M\rbrack}}}};} & 5 \end{matrix}$ q_(m)=maximum adsorption amount of metal ions (mmole/g)

$\begin{matrix} {\alpha = \frac{K_{H}}{\left( {K_{H} + \left\lbrack H^{+} \right\rbrack} \right)}} & 6 \end{matrix}$ where q is the adsorption capacity corresponding to metal ion concentration [M], q_(m) is the maximum adsorbed amount of molybdenum ions (mmol/g), [H⁺] the hydrogen ion concentration, K_(H) and K_(M) are equilibrium concentration. Equation 5 was used to correlate the adsorption capacity of the MPCM. The equilibrium data for molybdenum could be correlated with the Langmuir equation within ±5% of experimental value. The constants of Equation 5 are obtained by non-linear regression of the experimental data and are given in Table 3. It was noted that Equation 5 represented the adsorption behavior of molybdenum on the MPCM adequately (FIG. 14). The adsorption isotherm data obtained at pH 3 showed Type I behavior.

This suggests a monolayer adsorption of molybdenum on MPCM. Table 3 shows the maximum adsorption capacity of MPCM for Mo (VI), using Langmuir Equation (Equation 5). It was noted that the adsorption capacity of MPCM for molybdenum is approximately ˜6.25 mmol Mo/g of MPCM at 298K when the equilibrium concentration of Mo(VI) in the solution was 54.1 mmol/L and the initial pH of the solution was 3.0 (FIG. 14). The NH₂ groups of MPCM are the main active sites for molybdenum adsorption. As can be seen from the FIG. 13, two NH₂ groups will be necessary for the adsorption of one molybdenum ion. Other surface sites such as CH₂OH or OH groups of MPCM might have been involved in adsorbing molybdenum at the solution pH of 3. The adsorption capacity of MPCM that was irradiated at 50,000 bad was also performed for molybdenum uptake from aqueous solution. It was observed that the adsorption capacity of irradiated MPCM did not change substantially as shown in Table 3.

TABLE 3 Estimated parameters for the Langmuir model Maximum uptake capacity Metal ion (using Equation 5) Sample uptake pH α₁ K_(m) (mmol/g) MPCM Mo(VI) 3 0.25 0.4708 7.34 *MPCM-I Mo(VI) 3 0.25 0.2194 6.54 *MPCM-I: Sample after irradiation at 50,000 krad ⁶⁰Co γ-source.

A column was used to study the adsorption of Mo (VI) with or without the presence of ions in the solution under dynamic conditions. Approximately 1.125 gram of MPCM was used to make a 2.5 cm³ column with 0.5 cm inner diameter and 3.2 cm height. A flow rate of 1 mL/minute was used during a run. The run was continued for 1500 minutes, and samples at the bed out let were collected at a regular time intervals. The bed becomes saturated during this time period, as indicated by the outlet Mo (VI) concentration. When the inlet concentration was 5.21 mmole Mo (VI)/L at pH 3 and the flow rate was 1 mL/minute through the column, molybdenum broke through the column after 320 bed volumes (FIG. 15 a). Complete saturation of the column occurred after 500 bed volumes. Breakthrough curves were also obtained from a mixed solution containing 5.21 mmole Mo (VI)/L and 153.8 mM NaCl/L at pH 6.86 and 4.0, respectively (FIG. 15 b). In both cases, the solution was passed through a similar size of column as mentioned earlier maintaining same bed height and flow rate. It was observed that column broke through quickly at 42 bed volume for the mixed solution with pH 6.86 however approximately 125 bed volumes were required to break through the column for the mixed solution with pH 4.0. It is important to note that the break through time for molybdenum solution with 153.8 mM NaCl/L can be delayed, through the use of larger quantity of MPCM adsorbent and a longer column. The objective was to investigate the effect of inlet mixed solution pH on the breakthrough characteristic of Mo (VI) from the column, therefore, no attempt were made to determine the bed length to prolong the breakthrough time for mixed solution.

The long lived technetium (⁹⁹Tc) was used to evaluate the performance of MPCM to adsorb technetium with and without the presence of other ions from an aqueous solution in the pH range of 3 to 11. Technetium is chemically inert and has multiple oxidation states ranging from I to VII. The most dominant species of technetium that is found in aqueous waste streams is pertechnetate (TcO₄ ⁻) See Gu et al., Development of Novel Bifunctional Anion-Exchange Resin with Improved Selectivity for Pertechnetate sorption from contaminated groundwater, Environ. Sci. Technol., 34, 1075-1080, 2000. The adsorption of pertechnetate (TcO₄ ⁻) from an aqueous solutions on MPCM was studied under batch equilibrium conditions following a process outlined elsewhere. The effect of pH on technetium adsorption onto MPCM was evaluated over the pH range of 3 to 11 using a solution containing of 0.11 μmole technetium/L with and without the presence of 0.9% NaCl, respectively. While studying the effect of pH on the adsorption capacity, the initial pH of the solutions was adjusted to a desired value by adding either 0.1M HCl or 0.1 M NaOH. The pH of the solution was not controlled during the adsorption process. Following the adsorption experiments, the solutions were filtered and the activity of ⁹⁹Tc in the filtrate, which was collected in a vial at a predetermined time, was evaluated using a liquid-scintillation counter (Packard Tricarb 2900TR). The amount of technetium adsorbed onto MPCM was determined following the Equation 2.

Table 4 shows that the adsorption of technetium onto MPCM is pH independent in the solution pH range of 3 to 11. It was observed that approximately 95% of 1 μM technetium/L of solution was adsorbed onto MPCM in the pH range of 3 to 11, whereas the technetium removal was reduced to 56% in present of 0.9% NaCl over the pH range of 3 to 11. As it was mentioned earlier, MPCM shows positive charge in the pH range of 3 to 7.5. FTIR spectrum of MPCM confirms the presence of —NH₂, CHOH, and CH₂OH groups on MPCM surface (FIG. 4). It was assumed that the positive charge occurs due to protonation of the surface sites of MPCM in the pH range of 3 to 7.5 and technetium undergoes covalent bonding with the positive surface sites of MPCM. In the case of 0.9% NaCl in solution, the adsorption capacity of MPCM for technetium was reduced as the pertechnetate ions had to compete with the chloride ions in solution. Moreover, the uptake of technetium in the pH range of 9 to 11 in the presence of 0.9% NaCl solution may correspond to an ion-exchange reaction that occurs at this pH range. The result shown in Table 4 confirms that MPCM has strong affinity for pertechnetate ion from aqueous solutions.

TABLE 4 Adsorption of technetium on to MPCM at different pH ⁹⁹Tc solution prepared using Initial concentration of Amount Amount % uptake of ⁹⁹Tc on to MPCM at ⁹⁹Tc in the of of different pH solution MPCM solution pH μmole/L g L 3 4 6 8 9 10 11 De- 0.11 0.1 0.03 95% 95% 85% 85% 90% 90% 90% ionized water 0.9% 0.11 0.1 0.03 56% 55% 55% 56% 51% 52% 51% NaCl solution

MPCM was also used to adsorb Mo (VI) and Tc(VII) simultaneously from a mixed solution containing 1 mmole of Mo(VI)/L and 0.11 mole of pertechnetate/L with or without the presence of 0.9% NaCl. MPCM was found to adsorb molybdenum and technetium simultaneously from the solution at solution pH 3. It was observed that approximately 95% of 0.11 μmole pertechnetate was adsorbed onto MPCM surface, whereas 99% of 1 mmole molybdenum was adsorbed from the mixed solution. In the presence of molybdenum (MoO₄ ²⁻) in the solution, pertechnetate (TcO₄ ⁻) had to compete for the positive surface sites of MPCM. In another attempt, the adsorption of technetium onto MPCM was studied from a mixed solution containing 153.8 mmole NaCl/L, 1 mmole Mo (VI)/L of and 0.11 μmole pertechnetate/L. Table 5 shows that molybdenum (MoO₄ ²⁻) was adsorbed preferentially on to the MPCM surface, whereas the adsorption of pertechnetate (TcO₄ ⁻) was reduced to 55% of 0.11 μmole technetium/L in the mixed solution. It is assumed that in the presence of 0.9% NaCl, the sorption of pertechnetate (TcO₄ ⁻) onto MPCM surface was reduced due to the competition for surface sites with chloride ions at solution pH 3. In another attempt, a column with 1 cm inner diameter was used to study the pertechnetate adsorption onto MPCM. The column was prepared with MPCM that was loaded initially with Mo (VI). Batch equilibrium process was used to adsorb 6.25 mmole Mo (VI)/g MPCM at 298 K when the equilibrium concentration of Mo (VI) in the solution was 54 mmole/L and the initial pH of the solution was 3.0. Approximately 1.125 gram of Mo (VI) loaded MPCM was used to prepare a 2.5 cm³ bed. A saline (0.9% NaCl) solution spiked with 0.25 mM pertechnetate/L was passed through the column using a peristaltic pump at a flow rate of 1 mL/min during the run.

TABLE 5 Adsorption of pertechnetate and molybdenum on to MPCM from a mixed solution Concentration of pertechnetate, molybdenum, Amount Amount and sodium chloride % uptake of of in the mixed solution Mo Experi- MPCM solution TcO₄ ⁻ MoO₄ ²⁻ NaCl (VI) Tc (VII) ment g L (μM/L) (mM/L) (mM/L) (%) (%) 1 0.1 0.03 0.11 1.0 0.0 99 95 2 0.1 0.03 0.11 0.0 153.8 — 55 3 0.1 0.03 0.11 1.0 153.8 99 56 5 0.1 0.03 0.11 1.0 153.8 98.0 56

FIG. 16 shows that the pertechnetate anion has affinity towards available surface sites of MPCM in the presence of molybdenum (MoO₄ ²⁻) anion. It was observed that at 10 bed volumes, approximately 15% of the inlet concentration of pertechnetate was eluted with saline (0.9% NaCl) solution. It may be noted that approximately 60% of the inlet pertechnetate concentration was obtained in the eluent that was collected at 20 bed volumes (FIG. 15). The column reaches saturation fairly quickly for technetium while an additional 40 bed-volume of technetium spiked saline solution was passed through the column. After the column reached its saturation for technetium, more than 95% of the technetium fed to the column was collected at the column outlet as eluent. The objective of this study was to investigate the maximum amount of pertechnetate (TcO₄ ⁻) uptake onto MPCM loaded with 6.25 mM of Mo (VI)/gram of MPCM. No attempts were made to determine the bed length to reduce the pertechnetate release from the Mo (VI) loaded MPCM bed.

Although batch and column studies show that MPCM exhibited excellent adsorption capacity for Tc(VII), its removal from the bed was challenging. A technetium loaded MPCM bed was prepared in a column to study the desorption of technetium from the MPCM sample. The adsorption of technetium onto MPCM was conducted under batch equilibrium conditions. It was observed that approximately 0.12 μM of ⁹⁹Tc was adsorbed per gram of MPCM from a ⁹⁹Tc concentration of 0.48 μM/L solution at 298K temperature. For ⁹⁹Tc desorption studies, about 1.125 gram of MPCM containing 0.14M of ⁹⁹Tc/gram of MPCM was used to prepare the column. Pertechnetate is soluble in water; therefore, deionized water was used to regenerate technetium from the column. It was observed that only 1% of technetium was desorbed from the MPCM bed using 10 bed volumes of water. Preliminary studies show that complete recovery of technetium from the MPCM is challenging even using when different concentrations of NaCl solution. It was observed that approximately 50 bed volumes of 1.5% NaCl was required to regenerate 10% of ⁹⁹Tc from the column. Similar amounts of low concentration acid solutions (<1M) of HCl, H₂SO₄, and HNO₃, were also used, without any significant regeneration. In another attempt, the MPCM sorbent was oxidized with different concentrations of potassium permanganate or hydrogen peroxide, to study the effect of oxidation on adsorption/desorption of technetium on to the oxidized MPCM sorbent.

Example 2

In another embodiment, MPCM was oxidized with different concentrations of hydrogen peroxide with or without the presence of transition metal catalysts. Temperature was also varied. The oxidation studies of MPCM with hydrogen peroxide were performed to determine whether controlled oxidation alone would improve technetium recovery from the technetium loaded MPCM. The concentration of hydrogen peroxide was varied from 1% to 5%. Batch technique was used to adsorb technetium onto oxidized MPCM. The regeneration of technetium from the oxidized MPCM was conducted in a column. The column was prepared with 0.12 mole of ⁹⁹Tc/gram of oxidized MPCM. The column was regenerated to desorb technetium from the oxidized MPCM using 0.9% NaCl solution. It was observed that the recovery of technetium was not as high as was desired, since 10 to 17% of available technetium was recovered from the oxidized MPCM bed (Table 6). Moreover, the adsorption of Mo (VI) onto peroxide-oxidized MPCM reduced to 4.6 mmole/g compared to 6.25 mmole/g adsorbed by non-oxidized MPCM.

TABLE 6 Desorption ⁹⁹Tc from oxidized MPCM using 0.9% NaCl solution % desorption of ⁹⁹Tc from column Peroxide Peroxide activation by activation temperature % of peroxide and their activation by pH (at 70° C.) by transition metal catalyst 0.05% 0.2% 0.05% 0.2% 1% 2% 3% 4% 5% pH H₂O₂ H₂O₂ H₂O₂ H₂O₂ H₂O₂ H₂O₂ H₂O₂ H₂O₂ H₂O₂ 3 14.5 16.8 14.8 14.2 5 12.1 16.7 13.2 16.8 15.2 12.4 19.1 10.0 12.8 10 13.2 15.4 12.4 14.7

Example 3

MPCM was also oxidized using potassium permanganate in solution. The concentration of potassium permanganate in the solution and the oxidation time was determined based on trial and error. The concentrations of potassium permanganate and the pH of the solution were varied from 0.1% to 5% and 3 to 11, respectively. The oxidation time was varied from 30 minutes to 24 hours. The surface charge analysis of oxidized and non-oxidized MPCM loaded with Mo (VI) was also performed to elucidate the pertechnetate (TcO₄ ⁻) adsorption pattern on oxidized MPCM.

It was observed that permanganate solution containing 0.04 mmole of Mn/L of solution at the pH range of 3 to 4.5 and 12 hours time period was sufficient to oxidize MPCM partially to facilitate maximum uptake of molybdenum and simultaneous release of technetium from the MPCM sorbent. The performance of the oxidized MPCM was evaluated for molybdenum adsorption from aqueous solutions using batch technique. It was noted that oxidized MPCM can adsorb 6.25 mmole of Mo (VI)/g of MPCM at 298K when the equilibrium concentration Mo (VI) in the solution was 54 mmol/L at pH 3.0.

In another attempt, two separate columns were prepared using oxidized MPCM and oxidized MPCM that was loaded with 6.25 mmol of Mo(VI)/g, respectively. A 0.9% NaCl solution spiked with about 0.11 μmole Pertechnetate (TcO₄ ⁻)/L of solution was passed through both columns at a 1 mL/min flow rate. It was interesting to note that pertechnetate (TcO₄ ⁻) did not adsorb onto oxidized MPCM with or without Mo (VI) loading and approximately 90% of pertechnetate (TcO₄ ⁻) in the solution passed through both types of columns as an eluent. The results confirm that pertechnetate (TcO₄ ⁻) did not adsorb onto both oxidized MPCM and MPCM loaded with Mo (VI). The objective of this work was to maximize Mo (VI) uptake and enhance technetium release simultaneously from the MPCM surface sites.

MPCM shows great affinity for both Mo (VI) and Tc(VII) from the aqueous solution. The surface charge of Mo (VI) loaded MPCM revealed (FIG. 11) that Mo (VI) was adsorbed onto MPCM through an inner-sphere surface complexation reaction. It may be noted that Mo (VI) loaded MPCM exhibited positive charge in the pH range of 3 to 4.5; therefore, anionic pertechnetate presumably formed covalent bonds with the available positive surface sites. Interestingly, the adsorption of pertechnetate on to MPCM is approximately 55% from a solution containing 0.9% NaCl at the pH range 3 to 8 (Table 4). Almost 95% of 1 mmole pertechnetate was adsorbed onto MPCM in the presence of 1 mmole Mo (VI) in the solution. This confirms that pertechnetate (TcO₄ ⁻) was adsorbed onto MPCM surface sites.

The permanganate ion is ambiphilic in nature. In acidic solution, Mn (VII) ions of potassium permanganate change to possible intermediate products such as Mn (VI), Mn (V), Mn (IV), and Mn (III), which are ultimately reduced to Mn (II). See Dash et al., “Oxidation by Permanganate: Synthetic and mechanistic aspects” Tetrahedron, 65, 707-739, 2009. The permanganate (MnO₄ ⁻) content in the potassium permanganate is reported to be the reactive oxidizing species for acid catalyzed permanganate oxidation of chitosan. See Ahmed et al., “Kinetics of Oxidation of Chitosan polysaccharide by Permanganate Ion in Aqueous Perchlorate solutions” Journal of Chemical Research, v 2003, n 4, p. 182-183, 2003. In an acidic medium, the possible reactions between the MnO₄ ⁻ ion and H⁺ are as follows: MnO₄ ⁻+H⁺

HMnO₄  7 MnO₄ ⁻+4H⁺+3e ⁻→MnO₂+2H₂O  8 MnO₄ ⁻+8H⁺+5e ⁻→Mn²⁺+4H₂O  9

Due to protonation of the MnO₄ ⁻ ion in the acidic solution, the HMnO₄ species can be formed, which is also a powerful oxidant. See Sayyed et al, “Kinetic and Mechanistic Study of Oxidation of Ester by KMnO₄” International Journal of ChemTech Research, v 2, n 1, p 242-249, 2010 The formation of colloidal MnO₂ is possible due to the reaction of MnO₄ ⁻ with H⁺ and depending on the acidity of the solution which may further undergo reaction with H⁺ to produce Mn²⁺ in solution. Ahmed et al. 2002 reported permanganate oxidation of chitosan as an acid catalyzed reaction that led to formation of diketo-acid derivatives of chitosan. See Ahmed et al., “Kinetics of Oxidation of Chitosan polysaccharide by Permanganate Ion in Aqueous Perchlorate solutions” Journal of Chemical Research, v 2003, n 4, p. 182-183, 2003.

In acid catalyzed permanganate oxidation of MPCM, permanganate (MnO₄ ⁻) ion can be considered as the reactive oxidizing agent. The effect of permanganate oxidation on MPCM for the adsorption and release of Mo (VI) and Tc (VII), simultaneously, from the oxidized MPCM surface was evaluated by the surface charge analysis of the MPCM sample. The oxidation of MPCM by potassium permanganate changes its adsorption selectivity from aqueous solution. FIG. 17 shows the surface charge pattern for Mo (VI) loaded MPCM sample with or without oxidization. In the case of non-oxidized MPCM sample loaded with Mo (VI), the protonation of the surface appeared to be increased gradually at the pH range of 4.5 to 3. Therefore, at this pH range, the formation of covalent bonding by pertechnetate with the positive surface sites of Mo loaded MPCM surface is possible. At pH<2.9, the difference between the initial pH and pH after the equilibration time for MPCM loaded with Mo (VI) sample was not significant, suggesting complete protonation of the MPCM sample.

The surface charge of Mo (VI) loaded oxidized MPCM shows almost zero charge in the pH range of 3 to 4.5, compared to the Mo (VI) loaded onto the non-oxidized MPCM sample (FIG. 17). In the acidic pH range from 3 to 4.5, the surface functional groups of non-oxidized MPCM show positive charge which may further undergo reaction with MnO₄ ⁻ during the oxidation reaction. It is assumed that the manganic (MnO₄ ⁻) ion entered into the porous matrix of MPCM and partially oxidized the positive surface functional groups by donating electrons followed by reduction to Mn²⁺ ion in the solution. In addition, formation of colloidal manganese in the solution was controlled by controlling the solution pH in the range of 3 to 4.5, more specifically at pH 4. Moreover the ratio of Mn²⁺ ion to positive surface sites of MPCM favors further adsorption of Mn²⁺ onto MPCM surface. It was observed from the both batch and column studies that technetium did not adsorb on to Mo (VI) loaded oxidized MPCM whereas it shows a strong affinity for the Mo (VI) loaded non-oxidized MPCM sample. This indicates that the lack of a positive charge on the Mo (VI) loaded oxidized MPCM surface did not attract technetium to form a covalent bond compared with the surface of non-oxidized MPCM loaded with Mo (VI). It is interesting to note that technetium did not adsorb onto oxidized MPCM whereas almost 95% of 1 mmole solution of technetium was adsorbed onto non-oxidized MPCM. This confirms that technetium adsorbed onto the surface of non-oxidized MPCM and was not adsorbed on to the oxidized MPCM through covalent bonding.

Equilibrium batch adsorption studies were carried out by exposing the oxidized MPCM to 1% Mo(VI) solution that was spiked with 5.0 mL of ⁹⁹Mo (2 mCi/mL) Initially 1% molybdenum was prepared by dissolving 4.5 mL of ammonium hydroxide and 1.5 g of MoO₃ in 95 mL of deionized water. The mixture was kept under stirring until MoO₃ completely dissolved in solution. A solution containing 5.0 mL of ⁹⁹Mo (2 mCi ⁹⁹Mo/mL) was mixed thoroughly with 97.5 mL of 1% molybdenum solution. The pH of the spiked solution was adjusted to 3 using either 0.1N HCl or NaOH solution. The final specific activity of the Mo (VI) in the solution was 78.12 μCi/mL.

About 0.5 gram of the oxidized MPCM was added to a 125 mL plastic vial containing 50 mL of spiked solution. The solution was then kept on the shaker (160 rpm) for 3 hrs at 25±1° C. Another set of similar experiments was also performed to duplicate the data. After 3 hrs, the final pH was recorded for the solution, and the solution was centrifuged for 5 minutes at 3000 rpm in order to separate the MPCM from the supernatant solution. The MPCM loaded with Mo (VI) was then rinsed with deionized water couple times to remove any adhered Mo (VI) from its surface. The MPCM loaded with Mo (VI) and the supernatant and rinsed solutions were analyzed for molybdenum uptake using a dose calibrator, and a ICP-MS. It was observed that at equilibrium, the oxidized MPCM had a capacity of 2.47 mmole Mo/g of MPCM where 1300 μCi of activity are from the spiked ⁹⁹Mo.

The activity for ⁹⁹Mo and ^(99m)Tc was evaluated using both a dose calibrator and a gamma spectrometer. The dose calibrator (Atomlab 400) is equipped with a small lead sample vessel that effectively shielded of ^(99m)Tc gammas while allowing the majority of ⁹⁹Mo gammas to pass through the shield and into the detector. Therefore, readings taken while the sample is contained within the shielded vessel is assigned solely to ⁹⁹Mo activity. Readings taken without the shield are the sum of both ⁹⁹Mo and ^(99m)Tc activities.

Following the batch adsorption run, the MPCM loaded with both ⁹⁸Mo and ⁹⁹Mo was transferred to a column (0.5 cm×3.2 cm with polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) fit at the bottom). Two ends of the column were closed with silicon rubber septum. The column was thoroughly rinsed with de-ionized water to remove any molybdenum solution on the surface of the MPCM. The rinsed sample was collected from the column using evacuated vials. The column was eluted with saline (0.9% NaCl) solution after allowing it maximum time required to build-up the daughter product ^(99m)Tc from the decay of the remaining ⁹⁹Mo in the column. The column was eluted with 9 mL saline solution that was collected subsequently in 3 individual evacuated vials of 3 mL each. The eluate was obtained from the column at predetermined time intervals. The eluate from each collection was analyzed for molybdenum and manganese released from the column using quadruple inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) with an external calibrator. The activity related to pertechnetate or ⁹⁹Mo was evaluated using dose calibrator and gamma spectroscopy.

FIG. 18 shows the elution profile of the column consisting of 0.5 gram of MPCM loaded with 2.47 mmole of Mo (VI)/gram of oxidized MPCM where 1300 μCi activity is from adsorbed ⁹⁹Mo. The column started eluting with saline (0.9% NaCl) solution on the day after the column was prepared and the elution was continued over the period of 8 days. A note is that the first set of elution (Elution 1) was performed at 8 hours after the column was prepared in order to verify the desorption behavior of ^(99m)Tc from the MPCM column. The rest of the elutions, number 2 to 8, were performed at 24 hours intervals except elution number 5 were performed at least 45 hours after the elution number 4. The elution efficiency for the daughter product ^(99m)Tc from the column was found to be within the range of 75 to 90% (FIG. 18). In elution 1, as shown in FIG. 18, more than 80% of the activity due to ^(99m)Tc is obtained within 9 mL of saline (0.9% NaCl) in where 62% of the available ^(99m)Tc activity eluted in first 3 mL volume of normal saline. The second elution was collected at 24 hours after the first elution and shows that the ^(99m)Tc activity in the column ranged from 70% to 90% and can be recovered using 3 to 9 mL of saline solution. In all the cases, the eluate was clear, and the pH was in the range of 6 to 7. The column was continuously eluted over the period of 8 days with an average ˜82% of the whole ^(99m)Tc eluted from the column.

FIG. 19 shows the percentage of ^(99m)Tc and Mo (VI) released from the column over the period of 8 days. The concentration of the Mo (VI) in the eluates was within the range of 1% to 3% of the 6.25 mmole Mo (VI)/gram of MPCM in the column. The process of capturing any molybdenum leakage from the column by passing it through acid catalyzed MPCM is possible as shown in FIG. 15 thus reducing the Mo (VI) and Mn(VII) concentrations in the eluent to extremely low levels. Another way of controlling molybdenum leakage from the column can be achieved by controlling the pH of the saline (0.9% NaCl) solution within the range of 4 to 4.5 (FIG. 15). In that case, an additional guard column will not be necessary to control the leakage of Mo (VI) from the column.

Example 4

Production of ⁹⁹Mo via neutron capture method draws attention as an alternative of fission derived ⁹⁹Mo due to non-proliferation issues. The ⁹⁹Mo produced by the neutron activation of natural molybdenum would provide a less complex, less expensive, and more practical route for indigenous production and use of ^(99m)Tc. However, it is evident that the specific activities produce by the neutron capture method are not sufficiently high for the preparation of small chromatographic generators. This limitation, however, can be overcome by the use of adsorbent such as MPCM, which has higher adsorption capacity for molybdenum. It is demonstrated that MPCM is capable of adsorbing more than 6.25 mmole Mo (VI)/gram (600 mg Mo (VI)/g of MPCM) from an aqueous solution at pH 3, which is also applicable to ⁹⁹Mo obtained easily by the (n, γ) reaction of natural molybdenum. The generator in this case consists of MPCM loaded ⁹⁹Mo thus combines the performances of the chromatographic generator and the use of (n, γ) ⁹⁹Mo. In case of using as an adsorbent in ^(99m)Tc/⁹⁹Mo generator, the MPCM is able to hold up to 60 wt % of its body weight, in comparison with only 0.2 wt % in the alumina. The potential for MPCM as an absorbent for the preparation of the ⁹⁹Mo/^(99m)Tc generator has been explored using 1% Mo (VI) solution spiked with ⁹⁹Mo (2 mCi/mL). It was observed that MPCM adsorbed Mo (VI) spiked with ⁹⁹Mo as per its demonstrated capacity from an aqueous solution at pH 3. It was also observed that ^(99m)Tc, which was the decay product of ⁹⁹Mo, was eluted with normal (0.9%) saline solution to yield more than 80% elution. A typical ^(99m)Tc/⁹⁹Mo generator preparation flow sheet based on MPCM as an adsorbent is given in FIG. 20.

Example 5

About 4 g of chitosan was added to 300 mL deionized (DI) water with 1 mL acetic acid and stirred for 2 hr at 70° C. to form a gel. About 4 mL of HCl was added into the chitosan gel and kept under continuous stirring for another 1 hr at 70° C.

In this example, an amorphous titania gel was prepared by acid catalyzed controlled hydrolysis and condensation of titanium isopropoxide. See Hasan, S., Ghosh, T. K., Prelas, M. A., Viswanath, D. S., and Boddu, V. M. “Adsorption of uranium on a novel bioadsorbent chitosan coated perlite” Nuclear Technology, 159, 5971, 2007; Schattka, J. H., Wong, E. H.-M., Antonietti, M., and Caruso, R. A. “Sol-gel templating of membranes to form thick, porous titania, titania/zirconia and titania/silica films” Journal of Materials Chemistry, 16, 1414-1420, 2006; Agoudjil, N., and Benkacem, T. “Synthesis of porous titanium dioxide membranes” Desalination, 206, 531-537, 2007. Equal volumes of isopropanol (IP) and DI water were mixed in a given amount of titanium isopropoxide under continuous stirring at 70° C. Drop-wise addition of HCl under continuous stirring and heating at 70° C. produced a clear solution. The hydrolysis and condensation reaction was controlled by the ratio of water and titanium and H⁺ and titanium in the mixture, respectively. The final pH of the mixture was approximately 2.0 and the final reactant stoichiometry was Ti:IP:H₂O:H⁺=0.0132:0.39:1.67:0.01. Based on the concentration ratio of the reactants, the gel time was varied between 25 and 45 minutes.

At about 75% of the total gel time, a sol-gel solution of amorphous titania was mixed with chitosan gel. The mixture was kept under stirring at 70° C. for another 1 hr for complete reaction of chitosan and amorphous titanium oxide. The reaction with gluteraldehyde was performed by drop-wise addition of about 6 mL gluteraldehyde solution having a concentration of 50% to the acidic chitosan titania gel under continuous stirring at 70° C. The pH of the final mixture was approximately 1.0. The mixture was kept under continuous vigorous stirring at 70° C. for another 1 hr to obtain a semi-solid gel.

The resulting mass was thoroughly washed with 2% monoethanol amine to remove any unreacted gluteraldehyde. The mass was then suspended in 0.1M NaOH solution for 4 to 6 hr. The cross-linked mass was separated from the solution and washed with 0.1M HCl and then with deionized water (DI) until the pH of the washed solution was 7. The cross-linked mass was then dried in a vacuum oven overnight at 70° C. The cross-linked chitosan gluteraldehyde composite prepared in this process is referred to as “CGST” herein.

In the case of the CGST sample, the peak at 1590 cm⁻¹ is found to be weakened, indicating that the amide groups may be involved in cross-linking reactions with titanium. The carbonyl (—CONHR) spectra at around 1650 cm⁻¹ is observed for all three samples. For primary aromatic amines, C—N stretching vibrations fall between 1350 and 1150 cm¹.

There is a peak observed at 1170 cm⁻¹ (FIG. 21) for chitosan and CGST samples, respectively. In comparison to chitosan, the peak at 1170 cm⁻¹ is found to be weakened and a new peak appears at 1090 cm⁻¹ for the CGST samples.

The peak that appears at 1090 cm⁻¹ shows prominent shifts due to C═O stretching vibrations of an ether linkage.

In the region of 1000 cm⁻¹ to 1200 cm⁻¹, chitosan shows two peaks at 1157 cm⁻¹ and 1070 cm⁻¹, corresponding to the stretching of a C—O bond of C3 of chitosan (secondary OH) and C—O stretching of C6 of chitosan (primary OH), respectively.

Compared with the C—O spectrum of chitosan obtained at 1070 cm¹, the absorption peaks of the secondary hydroxyl group of the CGST samples become folded, as indicated in FIG. 21, and the O—H band was reduced and shifted from 3498.0 to 3450.0 cm⁻¹, suggesting that the OH groups of chitosan may be involved in the reaction with gluteraldehyde through the formation of hemiacetal in the presence of the acid catalyst. The evidence of the decrease of the chemical bond constant of C—O and the significant decline in the OH stretching peaks intensities O—H (1000 to 1200 cm⁻¹) supports the presence of a complexing reaction of gluteraldehyde with the surface oxygen functional groups, such as secondary hydroxyl group in chitosan. In the case of the CGST sample, titanium oxide appears to be involved in a reaction with the amine group of chitosan (FIG. 21).

Various embodiments of chitosan based micro-porous composite material (MPCM) was prepared by cross-linking gluteraldehyde at 70° C. in the presence of catalyst. MPCM was prepared in the laboratory via the phase inversion of liquid slurry of chitosan dissolved in acetic acid and the aldol condensation of glutaraldehyde for better exposure of amine groups (NH₂). The MPCM was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), which revealed its porous nature. Two MPCM based derivatives such as oxidized-MPCM and acid-catalyzed-MPCM were also prepared. The stabilization study for MPCM was conducted at 50,000 krad using a ⁶⁰Co irradiator as a γ-source. FTIR, XPS, and EDS X-ray microanalysis spectra revealed that the intensity of C, O, and N peaks of MPCM did not change substantially after irradiation. In case of Mo (VI) adsorption from aqueous solution at 298K, MPCM can hold up to 60% of its own body weight. The MPCM and its derivatives demonstrates the capacity to adsorb ⁹⁹Mo and release the daughter product ^(99m)Tc simultaneously under both batch and equilibrium conditions. It was also observed that ^(99m)Tc, which was the decay product of ⁹⁹Mo, was eluted with normal (0.9%) saline solution to yield more than 80% elution. Data shows that the high elution yield of ^(99m)Tc and the leakage of Mo (VI) from the continuous column was minimum therefore the MPCM and its derivatives can be used as an adsorbent in the ^(99m)Tc/⁹⁹Mo generator without using any guard column.

As used herein, the terms “around,” “approximately,” and “about” in connection with a numerical value denote that some variation from the numerical value may be possible, to a maximum of ±10% of the numerical value. The terms “a,” “an,” “the,” and the like which denote a single occurrence also should be understood to include a plurality of occurrences, unless clearly indicated otherwise.

The present invention having been described with reference to certain specific embodiments and examples, it will be understood that these are illustrative, and do not limit the scope of the appended claims. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A sorbent comprising a microporous material comprising chitosan which has been crosslinked with glutaraldehyde in the presence of a catalyst to a glutaraldehyde concentration of about 2 to about 4 wt %, which is resistant to degradation from exposure to beta and gamma radiation and from exposure to acids, and which has been at least partially oxidized after crosslinking.
 2. The sorbent according to claim 1, wherein the sorbent has increased selectivity for the sorption of ⁹⁹Mo with respect to ^(99m)Tc.
 3. The sorbent according to claim 1, wherein the sorbent has been oxidized by an oxidizer that comprises potassium permanganate.
 4. The sorbent according to claim 1, wherein the chitosan has a molecular weight of around 190,000 to 310,000 and is 75-85% deacetylated prior to crosslinking.
 5. The sorbent according to claim 1, wherein the surface charge of the sorbent when loaded with Mo(VI) is approximately zero at pH 3-4.
 6. The sorbent according to claim 1, wherein the surface area of the sorbent ranges between 10 and 100 m²/g.
 7. The sorbent according to claim 6, wherein the surface area of the sorbent is about 25 m²/g.
 8. The sorbent according to claim 1, wherein the point of zero charge of the sorbent ranges from about 7.5 to about 8.8.
 9. The sorbent according to claim 1, wherein the sorbent has a holding capacity for molybdenum of at least 60 wt %, based on the dry weight of the sorbent, and wherein this holding capacity is at least 6.25 mmol of molybdenum per gram of sorbent.
 10. A method for preparing a radiation-resistant sorbent according to claim 1, comprising: combining chitosan with water in the presence of an acid to form a chitosan gel; adding glutaraldehyde to the gel to form a semi-solid reaction mass in the presence of catalyst at 70° C., wherein condensation polymerization of the semi-solid reaction mass occurs; washing the semi-solid reaction mass to remove unreacted glutaraldehyde and form a washed mass; suspending the washed mass in aqueous base to form a neutralized crosslinked mass; drying the neutralized crosslinked mass to form the radiation-resistant sorbent; and oxidizing the radiation-resistant sorbent with an oxidizer.
 11. The method according to claim 10, wherein said oxidizing comprises: adding a permanganate solution to the radiation-resistant sorbent at a pH between about 3 and about 4.5.
 12. The method according to claim 10, wherein the mole ratio of hydroxyl groups from chitosan and from glutaraldehyde is maintained at around 4:1.
 13. The method according to claim 10, further comprising: forming an amorphous titania gel by acid catalyzed hydrolysis and condensation of titanium isopropoxide; and mixing the amorphous titania gel with the chitosan gel under conditions sufficient for the gels to react prior to said adding glutaraldehyde.
 14. A method of separating isotopes from mixtures thereof, comprising: contacting a mixture of at least two isotopes with a radiation resistant sorbent according to claim 1 that preferentially sorbs at least one of said isotopes; sorbing at least one of said isotopes onto or into said sorbent while one or more of the remaining isotopes are not significantly sorbed by the sorbent; removing said one or more remaining isotopes from said sorbent.
 15. The method according to claim 14, wherein said at least two isotopes comprise ⁹⁹Mo and ^(99m)Tc.
 16. The method according to claim 15, wherein said sorbent preferentially sorbs said ⁹⁹Mo and wherein said ^(99m)Tc is not significantly sorbed by said sorbent.
 17. The method according to claim 14, wherein one of said isotopes is a cesium isotope.
 18. The method according to claim 17, wherein said one or more remaining isotopes comprise one or more isotopes present in a radioactive waste stream.
 19. A generator for ⁹⁹Mo/^(99m)Tc, comprising the sorbent of claim
 1. 20. A method for separating, or concentrating, or both, one or more heavy metals from a liquid stream, comprising contacting a liquid stream containing said one or more heavy metals with a sorbent according to claim 1, and sorbing one or more of said heavy metals thereon. 